OAKLAND – So many Chargers defenders seemed to have the same reaction as they walked to and from the showers in the visitors' locker room yesterday afternoon.

With exhausted, thankful smiles, they rolled their eyes and shook their heads in the moments after a 28-18 victory over the Raiders.

BIG PLAYS BY THE D

With the Raiders leading 15-3 and driving, Shaun Phillips pressures JaMarcus Russell into a jump pass that is intercepted by Tim Dobbins.

After a Chargers TD cuts the deficit to 15-10, Marques Harris sacks Russell, forces a fumble and falls on it at the Oakland 13. The Chargers score on the next play to take the lead.

With the Chargers leading 21-18 and Oakland facing fourth-and-4 at its 44 with 1:22 left, Luis Castillo forces Russell to throw incomplete.

“That was a fight,” defensive end Luis Castillo said, the first of many to utter the phrase.

A fight the defense won by keeping the game close enough early and then making gigantic plays late.

Said quarterback Philip Rivers: “Wins like this are good for you – to have to fight it out, grind it out on offense and find a way and defensively come up huge.”

Through two games, for sure, and arguably even for a third, the Chargers offense was the better of the two units.

While the offense had scored 96 points, the defense had leaked yards and points early and late in games, losing twice in the final seconds.

But yesterday, the defense limited the Raiders to two field goals and a 63-yard touchdown pass on a busted coverage in the first 30 minutes while Rivers and his offensive line took some time to warm up. The Raiders also scored on a safety to lead 15-0 at halftime.

The Chargers defenders spoke at the break of how they needed to keep up the pressure. And on the sideline they continually reminded the offense they had its back.

“That's just two touchdowns,” linebacker Tim Dobbins said. “We were confident. We looked fresh, like we always do in the second half, and we made plays.”

Coach Norv Turner praised the defense at halftime and promised the offense would come around, something in which the defense already had confidence.

“We always know the offense is going to come around as long as we can hang around on D,” cornerback Quentin Jammer said. “We've got too many (offensive) weapons to be down and out of the game.”

The offense did return to form, controlling the ball to open the third quarter. While it settled for a field goal, a tone had been set on the 13-play, 75-yard drive to the three points.

The momentum began a steep roll downhill later in the half when Shaun Phillips pressured Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell into a jump-throw that went off Darren McFadden's hands and into those of Dobbins.

The offense took over at its 34 and pulled to 15-10 eight plays later.

Three plays into the Raiders' ensuing drive, Marques Harris got around left tackle Kwame Harris, hit Russell and his arm and then grabbed a loose ball at the bottom of a human pile at the Oakland 13-yard line.

A run from there by Tomlinson gave the Chargers their first lead.

The Raiders would tie the game, 18-18, but after Nate Kaeding's 47-yard field goal with 1:51 remaining put the Chargers up for good, the defense did what it could not do against Carolina and Denver in the losses to begin the season.

Blitzing to the end, the Chargers stopped Oakland at its 44 on a fourth-down incompletion.

“Early in the season, the defense didn't do its job,” Harris said. “The offense came out scoring points, and the defense didn't do its job. For us, it was important to not let that happen again.”